The Opera organizes its grand event of integrated arts entitled Faust Ball on 14 February 2015. Similar to the first ball in 2014 entitled Silver Rose Ball, its main mission is a charitable cause: the guests contribute to the purchase of an ambulance for the Hungarian National Emergency Ambulance Service. Special guest of the ball is international superstar soprano Angela Gheorghiu.

At the end of January, between two regular concerts, the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra gives another one in memory of the victims of the holocaust. The winter concert series feature renowned conductors as well as young, award-winning soloists.

As the first premiere in 2015, the Hungarian State Opera produces The Rake’s Progress by Igor Stravinsky. So far it has only been featured in the repertoire of the Opera only once – it was put on stage 35 years ago. In the production by director Ferenc Anger two international guest artists make their Hungarian debut on 18 January 2015.

It has been exactly 130 years since the Budapest Opera opened its gates on 27 September, 1884. The Hungarian State Opera commemorates the anniversary of the opening with crowds in period costumes, an extraordinary gala concert, the premier of a film, and the publication of a historical book.

Following last year’s MozartLateNight, this is the turn of two French composers to shake things up as their one-act operas take us to the exotic world of the Orient. Bizet’s Djamileh is a steamy tale, set on the banks of the Nile, about a slave woman who falls in love with her captor, while Saint-Saëns’s La Princesse Jaune (The Yellow Princess) is one about a Dutchman’s delirious vision of a Japanese phantasm. Strictly for over 18s only!

Events

'Music is a sacred art, gathering the wildest follies like cherubim around a gleaming throne!' - such is the Composer's article of faith proclaimed in the Prologue of Ariadne auf Naxos which is the most exciting opera of Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannstahl. It playfully combines two very different art forms: tragic opera and romantic farce. The result is a richly textured work that examines the role of art in society, and contrasts true love with cheerful promiscuity.
“We perform merriness and sadness, love and death simultaneously because we must live. And this is life itself. As these emotions are mixed in our everyday lives, now they will be mixed at the theatre too.” – says the director, Ferenc Anger.

Prologue:
A nouveau riche Viennese gentleman wishes to entertain his dinner guests with two theatrical performances. First to be performed is Ariadne auf Naxos, a young composer’s magnificent opera, followed by a divertissement entitled The Faithless Zerbinetta and Her Four Lovers performed by a dancer and some clowns. The musicians, who are offended by this unworthy match, are even more shocked by the landlord’s decision: the two performances must be held simultaneously before the fireworks at nine. Fortunately, the resourceful dancer Zerbinetta has an idea of how to save the situation – the two pieces must be cut down so that they fit one another.
The opera:
On the island of Naxos Ariadne is lamenting her unfaithful lover Theseus. The
nymphs try to console her in vain and the clowns cannot cheer her up either;
she is waiting for the herald of death. When Zerbinetta attempts to persuade her to find, instead of death, consolation in the arms of the first appropriate man she meets, the indignant Ariadne withdraws to her cave. Thus, Zerbinetta may choose from her admirers undisturbed. Eventually, she bestows her favours upon Harlequin, and the other disappointed clowns slink off. The nymphs rush in with the news: a ship is approaching. Bacchus arrives, the handsome god of wine and ecstasy. The mournful Ariadne believes that Hermes, the herald of death, has come to take her to the underworld. She throws herself into his arms happily. Instead of death, however, the wonderful ecstasy of love pervades them both. Zerbinetta is satisfied: her advice did not go unheeded.